The Art of Giving
by ValaMagic
Summary: Brennan's gift to Booth has serious ramifications... Probably more T than M but just to be sure... Spoilers for Santa in the Slush. Set mid season 4


AN: Was watching Santa in the Slush the other day and realised season 4 didn't have a christmas ep so this is what i think would have been good set some time around the middle of the season no real spoilers but a brief mention of Roxie. Spoilers for Santa in the Slush... And yes i know a christmas fic has no business been around in March but it's here anyway... so enjoy the fluffiness and leave reviews.

The Art of Giving

Nothing was the same as it had been the same time the previous year. Booth was back to his eager childlike anticipation of Christmas, and Brennan found herself looking forward to the holiday for the first time in almost seventeen years. Her father was no longer in jail and neither was her brother. She'd even caved in and brought a tree that she and Booth had spent an evening decorating, while bickering once again about the exact spirit of Christmas. Not only that but she was holding a Christmas party, not just for her family but on her father's urging also for everyone who didn't have anywhere else to be for Christmas. Booth was going to bring Parker for lunch and she'd even found him a gift. Plus there would be Sweets whose own family life was difficult and Hodgins. She'd invited Angela but the artist had declined, claiming to be having a quiet Christmas with Roxie, though Booth had a different explanation.

She looked over at the green mass in the corner of her living room. Underneath was a pile of gifts wrapped in garish paper. It seemed strange to be embracing the Christmas spirit after so many years of utterly miserable holidays. She'd never had anyone to share them with, but suddenly she had friends and a family and she could finally think of the date as a celebration rather than a commercial consumer driven exercise, without meaning. She thought of Booth's surprise when she'd told him she was having a Christmas party, and the smile he'd had a year earlier when she'd slipped the wrapped silver box into his hands. And then their first Christmas had come to her, they'd been at the lab, there was a secret Santa, but she hadn't participated, sometimes she wished she had.

Then there was the kiss, she couldn't decide whether it was the best part of her Christmas or the second best. It had been an amazing kiss, but Christmas Eve with her family and the surprise tree had been fantastic too. More than fantastic, it had been as close to perfect as any night could be. She remembered standing at the window, phone in her hand staring out at the two Booth's long after the other's had gone back to the festivities. They hadn't needed words in those moments, hadn't needed to see the exact expressions on each other's faces, they'd known instinctively how special the gesture was. Sometimes words just weren't necessary.

Booth had helped her shop, making sure she had all the traditional food for the day, including a huge variety of sweets, far more than was healthy for anyone she insisted.

"There's enough here to feed at least twenty" she'd argued as he piled more and more food into their trolley, she'd thought that some vegies, a turkey and one dessert would be plenty. He'd offered to help her cook too, but she'd told him to spend the night with his son, he got so little time with his son that every moment was precious. Instead her own father turned up on the doorstep on Christmas Eve offering to help, wanting to make her favourite Christmas fudge from childhood. Grudgingly she'd allowed him inside, their relationship was far from fixed, but with Booth's help she'd come to see that he was trying and that was enough. She hadn't completely forgiven him yet, but maybe one day she would, at the very least she'd give him the chance to make it up to her.

The biggest surprise that night was that she truly had fun. She was at ease, he wasn't going anywhere, he'd meant it when he said he'd stay and against her better judgement she felt herself letting her guard down just a little. Christmas music floated through the apartment from her newly acquired cd and she hummed quietly barely protesting when her father took her in his arms and spun her across the living room.

"This is going to be good" he told her smiling as he left late that night, "I'll see you in the morning sweetheart"

It took her a long time to realise that you couldn't avoid Christmas no matter how far away you went, that was what annoyed her most. It was global, yet somehow being far away from home for the holiday allowed her to pretend that there was someone waiting for her at home, that if she was at home she'd be having fun too. It was nice to be able to embrace Christmas rather than avoid it, maybe Sweets had been on to something with all the stuff about Christmas spirit.

She took one last look at the pile of gifts under the tree, there weren't a lot, but she knew there would be plenty come the next day, she also knew her first guest would probably be Booth who had convinced Parker to open all of his presents with them. Booth had warned the anticipation would kill him.

True to his word Booth turned up at her door at quarter to seven, having called her at six thirty to make sure she was up. Even in her half asleep state the first thing she noticed after the huge bag of gifts in both Booth and Parker's hands was the badge on Booth's Santa sweater that proclaimed 'I can get you on the naughty list'. She groaned at the crudeness of it, but laughed anyway; she couldn't help it, the two Booth's were just too cute, Booth with a green Santa sweater and Parker in a red reindeer one. They were comical and had her wanting to reach for the camera, vowing to make sure she got at least one photo of the pair of them that day.

"Merry Christmas Bones" the little boy dropped the bag in his hand and wrapped his arms around her middle without hesitation.

"Thank you Parker. Merry Christmas to you too... Both of you" she added turning to the larger Booth sincerely. He was shocked, he'd never heard those words from her before. He smiled and took her in his arms as soon as his son let go. She hadn't expected to feel his lips pressed against her cheek close to her ear, or his mumbled words.

"Well done" he muttered, her heart swelled slightly at his praise, as it always did when she knew he was proud of her.

"Let's get these under the tree" she said as he finally pulled away, their eyes still on each other.

"You think you can wait a bit longer, until everyone else is here?" Booth asked his son, knowing that waiting even that long was hard on him and he seemed unsure.

"Have you guys eaten?" Brennan interrupted suddenly. Booth shook his head.

"Hey Parker, do you want to help me make some blueberry pancakes while we wait for the others?" she asked and Booth sent her a silent nod of thanks as his son accepted easily chattering as he followed Brennan to the kitchen "Put on some music please Booth" she asked looking over her shoulder. When she was a child they'd always had pancakes on Christmas morning, and she remembered helping her mother cook, it was always just the two of them.

"Have you ever made pancakes?" she asked the blonde boy and he shook his head "Well, first you need to wash your hands so that you don't get any germs into the food." She told him letting him wash his hands in the sink before she did the same "Then you need to get some flour and sift it into a bowl. Would you like to do that?" Her mother used to sit her on their kitchen bench next to the bowl and she found herself doing the same with Parker. While he was sifting the flour she added some sugar "Now we need to make a well in the middle" she told him demonstrating with her hands before letting Parker take over. She let him measure the milk not worrying that more ended up on her bench than in the cup, she didn't dare let him crack the eggs but did let him tip the milk into the bowl.

"Okay, now stir it all in and I'll chop up the blueberries. Make sure you keep a good hold on it" It was easy to cook with Parker, especially something as simple as pancakes. She checked the mixture when she was done with the blueberries to make sure everything was mixed in before she scooped the blueberries into the mix while Parker continued stirring.

"Now we need to leave it sitting for a little while to make sure there's no bubbles, so why don't we go see what your Dad's up to?" Predictably he was in front of her huge flat screen enjoying a retelling of the nativity.

"You have fun with Bones buddy?"

"Yeah, we're waiting for their to be no bubbles in the bowl so that we can cook them" He told his father climbing onto the couch next to him where Brennan quickly followed.

She'd barely sat down when the door bell rang, revealing her brother and his family who were quickly followed by Max. The appearance of Hayley and Emma managed to distract Parker from his presents once again. Brennan was cooking pancakes when Sweets and Hodgins arrived within minutes of each other and she was glad she'd made a double batch of the mixture, but she knew Booth could eat and she'd known it wouldn't go to waste.

Like Booth Sweets was wearing a childish sweater, though rather than being cute as it was on Booth it was just weird. With each new guest a new pile of presents was added to the quickly growing one under the tree until it was a mass of paper with various garish patterns and in various sizes. Brennan could barely distinguished the gifts she'd bought from any of the others, they'd all started to blend together.

It was barely eight when they were all scattered through her apartment either at the dining room table or in the living room with a plate of the scrumptious pancakes that Parker boasted about making.

"Okay, I think it's present time" Max said suddenly looking to the three children who were suddenly bursting with excitement again. Brennan had no idea where he pulled the Santa hat from but suddenly her father was in the living room under the tree. Nobody protested his playing Santa and handing the presents around. He made sure that only one gift was being unwrapped at a time and also that the three children all had a gift before any of the adults. Brennan watched their faces light up and remembered when she'd been able to view life with such innocence, before she'd known true pain, before she'd known loss.

Her father had always played Santa when she was a kid, handing out the presents slowly making sure they saw each one before moving onto the next. When he handed her the first package she was reminded again of those days and for the first time realised that they might not be completely lost. She sat on the sofa next to Booth, too close especially with Parker and Sweets crammed onto it with them. Her gift to him was to the others just like the rest. A pair of the socks, black with a white outline of the bones in the feet. The image wasn't anatomically correct, but she knew Booth wouldn't care. He laughed when he saw them and the tie with a full skeleton on it. It wasn't much but she had no idea what to get him. He didn't hold up the two things beneath the socks and tie, but instead hid them from view, a mistletoe key ring and sprig of mistletoe with a note.

'_Just wanted to make sure we met under the mistletoe again, Angela tells me it's tradition'_

He turned to her when he saw it, noticing the slight blush creeping onto her face "Is it okay?" she asked and he knew she didn't just mean the socks.

"Perfect" He watched as she bowed her head away from him suddenly embarrassed, he reached out a hand to her cheek, without wondering if anyone else was still watching. If Sweets saw then they'd hear about it for months, but some things were more important than his comfort in therapy.

He was barely aware of anything but her for the rest of the afternoon, until Brennan reminded him that he had to get Parker back to his mother. Reluctantly they gathered his toys together, Sweets and Hodgins had already made their excuses and left. And Booth could tell that the girls were getting tired too and expected it wouldn't be long until they made their excuses as well.

"I'll be back in a little bit" he told her quietly. She'd already guessed he was coming back as his presents were still piled on the ground next to hers and they hadn't had their kiss yet.

He wasn't surprised that Russ was gone when he got back and that it was just Max and Brennan sitting on the sofa quietly still surrounded by a mass of crumpled wrapping paper and a huge pile of dishes.

"I better get going kid" his exit was transparent, and Booth had to fight to keep from laughing.

"Okay Dad, this has been nice"

"Yeah, it has, even better than last year" he confirmed hugging her close "You know what would make it even better though?"

"What?" she asked dubiously.

"If this time next year I had a real grandkid to dote on" his tone was light enough that he wasn't pushing the point but enough that it was obvious what he wanted.

"Well you never know, I wouldn't be surprised if Amy and Russ decide to have a baby after the wedding"

"I wasn't talking about them. I was talking about you"

"Dad" she groaned "I've already told you I'm not having any kids" though the image of having a Christmas with her own child like she'd had as a child, with Booth there too.

"Just think about it, it would make me very happy"

"Fine, I'll think about it" she agreed her voice slightly harsher than necessary but resigned.

"Okay, bye Sweetie, bye Booth and Merry Christmas" Booth was sure for a moment that the ex con had an inkling of what would happen when he left, but Booth ignored it, it was none of his business anyway.

"Here, I'll help you clean up" Booth muttered the moment Max left. He was already collecting masses of wrapping paper into his arms. He didn't want to think about what was going to happen between them, where it would happen because it would be under the mistletoe it had to be, anything else would be too real.

The end of a party or celebration was usually anticlimactic, the cleaning up was usually the end. But for Booth it was a prelude, the scene before the big one. The pile of dishes in the sink was huge and although most of the plates fitted in the dishwasher too many of the bowls and dishes were far too awkward. He fell into an easy rhythm of scrubbing with her at his side drying each dish. He'd become so tuned into her that the sudden disappearance of her from the kitchen was immediately obvious despite his concentration on the dish in his hands. He could guess where she was going and he wished he couldn't. He wasn't ready to think about it, because this time there would be no puckish attorney watching, no lab full of squints and no work. It would just be them.

When she made it back into the kitchen he was just finishing the last dish. He allowed himself a few moments to watch as she took the towel in her hands and wiped the water easily from the dish his eyes fell on her fingers, he'd never noticed how long they were before, how very feminine. Then he was remembering them, they were pulling on his lapels, pulling him into a kiss that he had never expected to have before letting him go far too soon.

He headed back to the living room needing a few minutes to compose himself, she'd follow soon enough. He couldn't help but notice the sprig of mistletoe hanging from the archway that separated her kitchen and dining area from the rest of her apartment, but he forced himself to cross the threshold collapsing back onto the sofa. He'd barely sat down when he heard her voice.

"Booth?" she whispered standing under the arch. He couldn't deny it anymore. He was on his feet and in front of her quickly but once he was there he had no idea what to do. She didn't make any move to touch him as she angled her head towards him, her eyes searching. He knew she expected him to make the first move but she was in no hurry and he was determined that if they were going to kiss then it would be done properly.

Keeping his eyes fixed on hers he reached both hands out slowly until they found hers sending an electric shock through both of them. He kept his touch light trailing his fingers over her bare arms until his hands rested on her shoulders, his left continued the journey up to cup her cheek in his hand the other trailed down her back and came around to rest on her hip. Finally his lips slowly descended on hers, his thumb caressing her cheek; her eyes slid shut and Booth took a moment to look at her. She was relaxed, despite the situation he could feel no tension coming from her, only from himself. He wondered for just a second whether hissing him really meant as little as she claimed. Then her eyes flicked open again and they were pleading and only then did he realised what the presentation of the mistletoe meant. It wasn't just a tradition to her, it wasn't just a once a year thing. It was her telling him that she wanted him, every day, not just for Christmas.

He searched her eyes for a hint that he might have misunderstood but her barely perceptible nod was all the confirmation he needed. The moment his lips collided with hers she gasped, as if they were better than she remembered. This time his tongue wasted no time darting out and running along her sweet lips until she allowed him entrance. The kiss was hungry, after having waited four years he realised he couldn't wait a second longer. Booth didn't realise that in their effort to be closer to each other that they were moving until Brennan's back collided with the wall. When they finally broke the kiss her head fell forward against his shoulder while they fought to catch their breath, each ragged exhale bathing Booth's exposed throat in warm air.

Their second kiss was less hungry, but certainly no less passionate, as their tongues explored slowly and their bodies ground rhythmically together. Booth had no memory of how they made it to the bedroom, only that somehow they did, their clothes scattered throughout the apartment leaving an interesting trail behind them. The only thing he'd been aware of after their lips touched was her, Temperance Brennan, who was surely the very definition of a goddess.

It was almost midnight when he woke up with her in his arms and he was ecstatic that it would be his last image of Christmas for the year. A very naked Temperance Brennan with hair mussed and splayed across his chest where her head rested gently while she slept. He'd never seen her look so peaceful and let his hand rake through her hair removing the knots carefully his other hand unconsciously caressing her bare back. He stiffened for a moment when he felt her starting to stir, worried that she might regret what had happened. Surprisingly though, as her eyes flicked open she snuggled closer into his body.

"Have you had a good Christmas Booth? I know how important the holiday is to you" She rubbed her eyes with one hand and stretched slightly keeping her body pressed against him.

"Are you kidding? This is the best Christmas ever" He told her with a smile, because there couldn't be anything better at Christmas than spending the day with your son and the night with the woman you love. There was no better gift at Christmas, or at any time of year than that.


End file.
